DWWA judge profile: Maria Valeria Gamper

Maria Valeria Gamper is a judge at the 2026 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).

Maria Valeria Gamper

Having been born and raised in Buenos Aires, she was studying Hotel Management when she fell in love with wine. After completing her studies, she enrolled in Centro Argentino de Vinos y Espirituosas (CAVE), one of the best institutes for sommelier training in Argentina. By then, she was already working at the restaurant of the Four Seasons Hotel, Buenos Aires.

One year later, she achieved her Sommelier diploma, and she took levels I & II of the Court of Master Sommeliers, achieving the best score in both levels that year.

She has been awarded ¨best sommelier of the Americas 2022¨ in the APAS-ASI Contest and the ¨best sommelier of Argentina” in Argentine Sommeliers Association (AAS) Contest 2019.

Maria serves on the board of the Argentine Sommeliers Association (AAS) and writes for their newsletter and the Wines of Argentina blog. She conducts tastings, organises wine events and serves as a mentor for the Speed Rack 2021 programme. She is a WSET Diploma Student.

She first judged at the Decanter World Wine Awards in 2022.

Follow Maria on Instagram.

For more information about Maria’s work, take a look at her website.

See more judges for the 2026 DWWA.

Born and raised in India, Shivani is the awards manager at Decanter, managing the 300-strong cohort of worldwide judges for the world's largest wine competition, the Decanter World Wine Awards, ensuring a seamless judging process and driving the competitive integrity of the awards. After earning a master’s in wine management from the Burgundy School of Business, she moved to London in 2016 and completed her WSET diploma. While Burgundy holds a special place in her heart, Champagne is her go-to bottle. Alongside her full-time role, she has been dipping her toes into wine writing, relishing the opportunity to bring wine stories to the surface.